The Beginning
by CriminalCupcakes
Summary: Teenage Emily Prentiss has just moved back to D.C. after living in Europe and the Middle East for most of her life. She meets fifteen year old Jennifer Jareau and things change. She finds friends that she's never really had before and in the process she gets a new family. (Warning: Mentions of rape)
1. Chapter 1

One

I'm the new kid. Again. We move every six fucking months. This is the third high school I've been in and I'm only in eleventh grade. I can't stand it. I barely have time to make friends before we have to leave again. But this time my mother says we may be able to stay here a little while longer. A few years even. I don't really care, as long as we can stay here until I graduate, then I'll go off to college and she is free to move around. I actually like it here, in D.C. It's big and crowded, but it's nice, homey.

I walk into the cafeteria and walk right into a blonde girl holding a tray with pasta on it. The tray fly's out of her hands and all over her shirt. I stand there stunned for a second as I watch her smile fade and tears well in her eyes. She turns and runs for the bathroom.

I come out of my daze and realize what's just happened and turn to go after her. I push open the bathroom door to find her leaning over the sink, wetting a paper towel.

I walk over to her and put my hand on her arm. She flinches. She turns to look at me. Only for a second and then she hides her face again, but I saw it. She's got a black eye. I'm not exactly sure how I missed it before, but it's there.

She wrings out the paper towel and starts to rub at her shirt with it. I put my hand over hers and she looks up at me.

"Let me help you." I say. She nods and hands me the paper towel. I take it and gently rub at the sauce on her shirt.

Once I manage to get most of it off, I throw the paper towel in the trash and turn back to her. "Are you okay?" I ask.

She nods. "I'm fine." She says.

I reach up to touch her cheek. "Who did this to you?" I ask. She shakes her head.

"It doesn't matter I'm fine." She says and tries to move away from me.

"Yes it does." I say.

She shakes her head.

"I don't even know you." She says.

"Emily Prentiss." I say.

She smiles a little bit. "Jennifer Jareau. My friends call me JJ." She says.

I smile. "Now you know who I am. Can you tell me who did this to you?" I ask.

She ducks her head down and mumbles something. I put my hand on her arm.

"Who did this Jennifer?" I ask.

She looks up at me. "My father." She whispers.

"Why? What happened?" I ask.

She closes her eyes. "I told him I'm gay. He hit me and told me that I could leave and never come back." She says.

"He hit you because you told him you're gay?" I ask. She nods. I wrap my arms around her.

"I'm sorry Jennifer." I say.

"What did your mother say?" I ask.

She buries her face in my neck. "She died last month." She says, a sob escaping. I close my eyes for a second.

"I'm so sorry." I say, squeezing her tighter.

She takes her head off my shoulder and looks me straight in the eye. What happens next isn't something I ever thought would happen. At least, I didn't think I'd be the one to initiate it. I put my hand on her arm and slowly lean forward, capturing her lips with my own. I feel her tongue slide across my bottom lip and I open my mouth, whimpering as her tongue touches mine. Fireworks.

I pull back and she smiles. "Wow." I say. She smiles.

"Is it bad that I want to do that again?" I ask.

She shakes her head. "No, cuz I want to, too." She says. She smiles and puts her hands on my shoulders. She leans forward and kisses me again. I slide my arms around her waist and pull her closer. She pulls back.

"You're really beautiful, you know that?" I say.

She shakes her head. "Oh yeah, the giant purple bruise around my eye is gorgeous." She says.

"Well it is a rather nice shade of purple." I say.

She laughs.

"I mean it. You're beautiful." I say.

She smiles a little bit. "Come meet my friends." She says.

I nod and follow her out of the bathroom.

We walk into the cafeteria and over to a table in the centre of the room, where six people are sitting, laughing and joking with each other. We get to the table and the six people that are sitting there stop to look at us.

"Hey Jayje." Says another blonde girl. Jennifer smiles.

"Guys, this is Emily. Emily, this is Spencer, Derek, Penelope, Dave, Aaron and Alex." She says.

I smile. "Hey." I say.

Jennifer sits down and motions for me to do the same.

"So where are you from Emily?" Jennifer asks.

"Originally, here. But I've lived just about everywhere you can imagine." I say. She smiles.

"Why did you move so much?" She asks.

"My mother's an ambassador." I say.

She nods. "That's really cool." She says.

I nod.

"What classes do you have Emily?" Derek asks.

I look down at my schedule and say "math with Becker, science with Thompson, English with Wilson and history with Jones."

Jennifer takes my schedule from me. "Seriously?" She says.

I turn to look at her. "Seriously what?" I ask.

She hands me her timetable.

"We have all the same classes." I say. "At least I'll know somebody." I say. She nods and hands me my schedule.

"I'm gonna go grab a bag of chips from the vending machine. Anybody want anything?" Jennifer asks.

"I'll come with you." I say.

She smiles and nods. "Okay." She says.

I stand up and we walk down the hall to the vending machines. "Do you have a place to stay?" I ask.

Jennifer shakes her head. "I've been staying at a homeless shelter for the past three days." She says.

"Do your friends know what happened?" I ask.

She shakes her head. "No. I told them I tripped over my bike." She says.

I put my hand on the small of her back. "Do you want to come over to my house tonight?" I ask.

She shakes her head. "Emily, we barley know each other." She says.

"I want to know you Jennifer." I say. She smiles.

"Would it be okay with your parents?" She asks.

I nod. "They're in Italy for the next two days. I'm alone." I say.

"I guess I can come." She says.

"Good." I say, wrapping my arm around her waist.


	2. Chapter 2

Two

The final bell rings and I stand up and walk over to Jennifer.

"You ready?" I ask.

She nods. "Yeah." She says.

We walk into the parking lot and walk over to the car that was waiting for me. "You have a chauffeur?" Jennifer asks.

I nod and motion for her to get into the back seat of the SUV. I climb in after her and smile. She looks nervous. I put my hand on her thigh and smile at her.

"You okay?" I ask. She nods. "You've got nothing to be worried about." I say. She nods and puts her hand on top of mine.

We pull into the driveway and get out of the car.

"You live here?" Jennifer asks, looking at the three story mansion in front of her.

"Yeah." I say.

"Wow." She says.

"Come on. Let's go inside." I say, holding out my hand. She slides her hand into mine and lets me lead her into the house. We walk into the dining room and my mother is sitting at the table. "Mother?" I ask. She turns around.

"Hello Emily. How was your day?" She asks.

"I thought you were in Italy." I say.

She shakes her head. "I decided to come back after the party. Your father stayed. Who's this?" She asks, looking at Jennifer.

"Mother this is Jennifer." I say.

"It's nice to meet you ambassador." Jennifer says.

My mother smiles. "Hello Jennifer." My mother says.

"Call me JJ, ambassador." Jennifer says.

My mother smiles. "Ambassador sounds so formal. Call me Elizabeth." My mother says.

Jennifer nods. "Come on Jennifer, we can go into my room." I say, wanting to get out of the awkwardness that's about to join us. She nods and turns back to my mother.

"Nice to meet you." She says.

My mother smiles.

I take Jennifer's hand and lead her up to my bedroom. "She likes you." I say, closing my bedroom door.

"How do you know?" Jennifer asks.

"She asked you to call her Elizabeth." I say.

She nods. "Do you want something to eat? You haven't had anything since that bag of chips at lunch." I say.

She shakes her head. "No I'm good." She says. I nod. "I'm gonna go grab a soda, you want one?" I ask.

She nods. "Sure." She says.

I nod. "I'll be right back." I say.

She nods.

I walk out of my room and down the hall to the stairs that lead to the dining room. I walk over to my mother and sit down. "I need a favor." I say.

She looks up at me and nods. "What do you need?" She asks.

"Jennifer's father kicked her out and she has nowhere to go and I was wondering if maybe she could stay here." I say in one breath.

My mother nods. "You like her don't you?" My mother asks.

"What?" I say.

"I saw the way you look at her. Just because I'm old doesn't mean I'm blind." She says.

I smile. "Is it okay if I do?" I ask.

She puts down her magazine and leans forward. "Of course it is Emily." She says.

I smile. "I met her at lunch today. Actually I ran into her and I spilled her lunch on her shirt. I helped her clean it up and she told my why her father kicked her out and I kissed her." I say.

She nods. "She can have the bedroom next to yours. It has a door between it and your room." She says.

I nod. "Thank you." I say.

"Emily." She says.

I turn back to look at her. "Yeah?" I ask.

"What happened to her eye?" She asks.

I sit back down. "She told her father she's gay, and he hit her, and then kicked her out." I say.

Her eyes widen a little bit. "He hit his own daughter?" She asks.

I nod.

"What did her mother have to say about that?" She asks.

"She died a month ago." I say.

"Oh dear god, that poor child." She says.

"Just don't bring it up. Please." I say.

She nods and goes back to reading her magazine.

I walk into the kitchen and grab both me and Jennifer a can of Pepsi and walk back to my room.

I open the door and smile at what I see. Jennifer is sitting in the chair at my desk, looking out the window. I close my door gently and walk over to her. I put the drinks down on my desk and kneel down and wrap my arms around her waist.

She turns around and looks at me. "I like you. Like I really really like you. And I know we just met and you're probably straight and you just kissed me to make me feel better or whatever and this will probably make things really weird between us so, I'm just gonna go, okay?" She says standing up and walking over to my bed to grab her backpack.

I walk over to her and grab her arm, turning her to face me. "I like you. And trust me, I'm far from straight. I didn't kiss you to make you feel better. I kissed you because when I saw you I felt something and this isn't weird. If you let it, this could be amazing Jennifer." I say.

She puts her backpack down and looks me straight in the eye. "You really mean that?" She asks.

I slip my arms around her waist and push my hands into the back pockets of her jeans and pull her closer to me. "I really mean that." I say.

She wraps her arms around my neck and kisses me.

"I have a question for you." I say.

She nods. "Ask away." She says. I take her hand and walk her out of my room and stand her in front of the door next to my room.

I open the door and lead her into the room. "I don't get it. It's a bedroom." She says.

I nod. "I told my mother that you have nowhere to go. If you want, it's your bedroom." I say.

She gasps and tears spring to her eyes.

"You can stay for as long as you like." I say.

She nods. "Really?" She asks.

I nod. "Yep." I say. She smiles.

I take her hand. "I haven't shown you the best part yet." I say.

She laughs a little bit and follows me over to the other door.

I open the door and take her through the small hallway and open the other door. "It leads to my room, and there's a bathroom in the middle of the two rooms." I say.

She nods. "This is amazing." She says.

 ** _9 hours later_**

I walk into my bedroom after Jennifer and close the door. I turn to look at her and smile. She's standing in front of the big window at the end of my room, looking down at the pool. I walk over to her and wrap my arms around her waist. She leans back into me and puts her head on my shoulder.

"This view is gorgeous." She says.

I gently kiss her forehead and smile. "Mine isn't so bad either." I say.

She smiles and turns around in my arms.

"My mother said that we can go shopping for some clothes and things for you tomorrow." I say.

She shakes her head. "No, you guys don't have to spend your money on me; I can just wash these and go get some stuff from…" She trails off.

I shake my head. "No. I don't want you anywhere near that house or him." I say.

"I lived with _him_ in _that house_ for fifteen years." She says.

I put my hands on her hips. "I don't care if you lived with him for fifty years he hit you once, then he kicked you out of that house. I just met you, Jennifer, but I care about you. I really really care, and I hate that I care so much. It scares me. But I'm not going to let you go back there. Please. Let us do this for you. Please." I say.

She smiles and pulls me into a hug. "Okay." She says.

I squeeze her tighter. "Thank you." I say.

She just buries her head in my neck and nods.

After about five minutes she pulls back and I can see she was crying. I put my hands on her arms. "Jennifer?" I ask.

"Can I sleep in here tonight? I… I just… I just need to be close to someone." She says, wrapping her arms around herself.

I step forward and un-cross her arms. "Of course you can. Come on, I'll find you something to wear. What do you normally sleep in?" I ask.

She shrugs. "Just a big T-shirt and my underwear, if it's okay for me to sleep in my underwear here." She says.

"You can sleep in whatever you want." I say.

She smiles. "Then I sleep in a T-shirt and my underwear." She says.

I nod and toss her one of my t-shirts. "You can change here, I'll use the bathroom." I say.

She nods.

I go into the bathroom and change my shirt and just wait for a minute before opening the door and walking back out. I open the door to my room and see Jennifer sitting on the bed reading a piece of paper. She looks up at me and smiles. Then I realize what she's reading. It's the criminology paper I wrote when my mother was stationed in Paris. I wrote it in French and then again in English.

"This is really good." She says.

I smile. "Thanks." I say walking over to her. I sit down on the bed and put my arm around her waist. She puts the paper down and snuggles into me a little bit.

"Come on. Let's get some sleep. We have to go shopping with my mother tomorrow. Ugh." I say, flopping down on the bed.

She lies down beside me and I roll over to face her. "You know, if you really hate shopping that much you don't have to come." She says.

I shake my head as best I can while lying on a pillow. "No, it'll be a good chance to get to know you a little bit more." I say.

She nods and yawns.

"You tired?" I ask. She nods.

"Yeah." She says.

I chuckle a little bit and turn off the lamp beside my bed. I lie back down and roll over to face her again.

"Come here." I say.

She moves closer to me and kisses me.

"Goodnight." I say.

She snuggles into my chest and I wrap my arms around her.

"Night." She says.


	3. Chapter 3

Three  
I wake up on my back with Jennifer laying on top of me, her arms wrapped around me. I look over at the clock. 10 am. Shopping with my mother. Crap. If there is one thing I did not want to do on my Saturday, it's go shopping with my mother. No, not just my mother. I don't do shopping. Shopping really isn't my thing.

Jennifer starts to move a little bit and I look down at her sleeping on top of me. She looks so peaceful when she sleeps.

I smile and decide that I should probably wake her up. I move the one hand that was on her back and slide it down a bit more, so it's more on her hip and I gently start to rub her back.

She wakes up and lifts her head.

"Hey you." I say.

She smiles at me. "Did I sleep on you all night?" She asks.

I nod. "I think so." I say.

She puts one hand on either side of me and pushes herself off of me. "I'm sorry." She says.

I put my hands back on her back and pull her into me. "You have nothing to be sorry for Jennifer." I say.

She smiles and moves up to kiss me.

She pulls back and puts her head on my chest. "Morning." She says.

"A very good one so far." I say.

She smiles and kisses me again. She pulls back. "We have to go shopping with your mother today." She says.

My head falls back against the pillows. "Ugh. Don't remind me. Please." I say.

She smiles and kisses me one more time before attempting to roll off me. I put my hands on her back and hold her firmly in place.

"Don't even think about it." I say.

"Let me up Emily. I'm too heavy." She says.

"You weigh about as much as a small monkey." I say.

She laughs and kisses me. "When are we going shopping?" She asks.

I laugh. "I have no idea. Probably sometime after breakfast. Which should be any minute now." I say.

She smiles and lays her head back on my chest. "That's the best night's sleep I've gotten in a long time." She says.

I smile and squeeze her. "Me too." I say.

We lay here for a few minutes before my mother knocks on the door. Jennifer rolls off me, groans and covers her head with the blanket and cuddles into my side.

"E, can I come in?" My mother asks.

"Yeah." I yawn.

She opens the door and steps in.

"Morning mom." I say.

"I went to check on Jennifer, she wasn't in her room." She says.

I laugh and pull the blanket back. "She slept here last night." I say.

My mother laughs when she sees Jennifer cuddled up to my side. "You do make a cute couple." She says.

"What's up mom?" I ask.

"I just wondered where Jennifer went. I came up to tell you that breakfast was ready and she wasn't in her room." She says.

I nod. "Okay. I'll drag her downstairs in a minute." I say.

She laughs and walks out, closing the door behind her.

"Come on Jennifer. Breakfast." I say. She doesn't move. "Jennifer?" I ask. I slide down the bed so I'm looking at her face. She's crying. "Jennifer, what's wrong?" I ask. She doesn't answer. "Jennifer baby, look at me." I say, cupping her face gently. Her eyes flick up to mine, then back down. "What's wrong?" I ask.

She shakes her head. "It's nothing." She says quietly.

"Baby it's got you in tears. It's obviously something." I say.

She sighs. "I just got scared for a second." She says.

"Scared of what baby?" I ask.

"I don't know." She says.

"Are you scared of me?" I ask.

She shakes her head. "God no, I could never be scared of someone so sweet. I don't know why I got scared. It just happens sometimes. I have flashbacks and nightmares. I just got scared for a second." She says.

"Flashbacks Jen?" I ask.

She nods.

"Can you tell me why?" I ask.

She nods. "Two months ago, before my mom died, we went on a vacation to Florida. They went out to dinner and I went down to the restaurant at the hotel and this guy, he came up to me and started talking to me, he was only like sixteen, and I thought he seemed nice so we went up to his room just to hang out. He came onto me, and I told him I was gay. He didn't like that. He forced me to have sex with him. He was so rough. I didn't want to. He just made me. It hurt so bad but I still..." She says.

"You still what Jennifer?" I ask, rubbing her back gently.

"I had an orgasm." She says.

"I swear I didn't want it. It just happened. It had never happened before. I was a virgin." She whimpers.

I nod. "I know you didn't want it Jennifer. It's a natural reaction baby." I say.

She nods. "I know, but I still just feel really disgusting. If I didn't want it then why did it happen? Why did my body let it happen?" She asks.

I shake my head. "I wish I could answer that for you baby. I really do." I say.

She nods. "Once he'd finished he decided to smack me around a little. He left bruises where he was sure nobody would see them." She says.

I put my hand on her arm. "He raped you." I say.

"C-can I show you something?" She asks.

I nod.

She pulls her t-shirt over her head so she's sitting in her bra and underwear. She pulls down the top of her sports bra a little bit so I can see the bite mark scar, just above her right nipple. I reach out and run my fingers over it gently. She flinches.

"He did this?" I ask gently.

She nods, more tears forming in her eyes.

"Did you tell anyone?" I ask.

She shakes her head. "I didn't want to tell anyone. He was sixteen but he felt so much older. I just feel so disgusting. I don't even know how someone like you could want me." She says as she puts her shirt back on.

I nod and wrap my arms around her and pull her close to me. "It's okay Jennifer. You're safe here sweetheart. I'm gonna help you. Okay?" I say.

"How can you help me?" She asks.

I smile. "You can talk to me. Wake me up when you have nightmares. I'll help you anyway I can think of Jennifer." She nods.

"Thank you." She says.

I smile a little bit. "Don't thank me. I want to help you Jennifer." I say. She nods. "Do you want to go get some breakfast?" I ask. She nods again. "Okay. Come on sweetie." I say. I realize when I'm helping her off the bed, that this sweet girl is much more troubled than I thought.

When she stands up she's shaking so bad she almost falls down. I wrap my arms around her to steady her. "Jennifer, can you look at me for a second?" I say.

She turns her head to me and I smile a little bit. "Can I kiss you?" I ask.

"If that's what you want. Nobody's ever asked me before. They just did it." She says.

I smile and pull her closer to me than she already is. "I'll only kiss you if I have your permission." I say.

She smiles. "You can kiss me whenever you want to. I'll always be okay with it." She says.

I smile a little bit and kiss her. "Are you sure you want to go shopping today?" I ask.

She shrugs. "I don't know yet. I'll tell you after breakfast." She says.

"Do you want to take the elevator or do you think you can do the stairs?" I ask.

She smiles. "I think I'll be okay." She says. I smile and we walk out of the room.

We walk slowly down the hallway and stairs.

We get to the bottom of the stairs and I turn to look at her. "Are you okay?" I ask.

She nods. "Kiss me and I'll be better." She says.

I put my hands on her hips and kiss her. "You wanna go shopping or do you wanna just lie in bed all day?" I ask.

"Bed. Definitely." She says.

I nod and kiss her. "Do you want to change into actual clothes? Maybe put some pants on?" I ask.

She shakes her head. "No. I just want food." She says.

We walk into the dining room and see my mother already at the table with a plate of pancakes in front of her.

"Good morning mother." I say.

"Good morning girls." She says.

Jennifer sits down and I start to walk into the kitchen. "Where do you think you're going?" She asks.

"To tell Marco what we want for breakfast." I say.

Her eyes go wide and I know exactly what she's trying to say. _You're going to leave me alone with your mother?_ I nod.

"You'll be fine, Jennifer." My mother says.

"Go get your food Emily." She says.

"What do you want to eat?" I ask.

"What can I have?" Jennifer asks.

"Whatever you want." I say.

"I'll just have a few waffles then please." She says.

"Do you want any fruit?" I ask.

"Strawberries and blueberries please." She says.

I nod and lean down to kiss her. I pull away about a centimetre and smile. "I'll be back." I say.

JJ's P.O.V

I watch as Emily walks into the kitchen and I awkwardly turn back to face Elizabeth.

"I spoke to the school's principal this morning and explained your situation. She doesn't know the details, but she knows you are staying here and you're not quite settled yet. She agreed to give you and Emily a few months to deal with everything and you do not have to go to school. And I would like to talk to you and Emily once she gets back out here." Elizabeth says.

I nod. "Thank you." I say.

She nods. "How are you feeling?" She asks.

I shrug. "I'm okay." I say.

She nods.

Emily's P.O.V

I walk back into the dining room and sit down. "Marco says the food will be ready in about ten minutes." I say sitting down in the chair beside Jennifer.

She nods. "Okay." She says.

I smile and take her hand. "Come here." I say.

She stands up and shifts over and I pull her down to sit on my lap. "What are you doing?" She asks.

I smile and wrap my arms around her. "What does it look like?" I ask.

She smiles and wraps her arms around my neck and leans down to kiss me.

"Are you still okay with going shopping Jennifer?" My mother asks.

"We want to get her settled in more okay mom?" I say. She nods.

"Okay, but she will eventually need clothes and a cell phone so just tell me when you're ready okay Jennifer?" She asks.

Jennifer nods. "You don't have to get me a phone; I'll be fine without one." She says.

"Nonsense. I'm buying you a phone." My mother says.

Jennifer nods. "Thank you." She says.

I tighten my grip on her.

My mother clears her throat. "I have already told Jennifer that I spoke to the principal of your school today and she has agreed to give you a few months to get settled into everything as long as I can find a home school tutor for the both of you. And if Jennifer is going to be staying here I would like to set some rules." She says.

We nod. "First, Jennifer, I didn't say anything last night because it was your first night here, but if you could sleep in your own bed from now on, I would be very grateful." She says.

I shake my head. "No mother." I say.

My mother looks at me, astonished. "Why not?" She asks.

I look at Jennifer. "Can I tell her?" I ask.

Jennifer nods, then turns and puts her head on my shoulder, burying her face in my neck.

I turn a little bit so I'm kind of looking at her face. "I really think you should be the one to tell her sweetheart." I say.

She nods and takes a deep breath before she takes her head off my shoulder. My arms tighten around her and I kiss her cheek, before whispering "it's okay" in her ear.

She nods a little. "Two months ago, before my mother died, we went on a vacation to Florida. One night my parents went out for dinner and I didn't want to go with them, so I went down to the hotel restaurant instead. This guy came up to me and he seemed nice so we decided to go hang out in his room. He was only like sixteen. After a while he started flirting with me and then he tried to kiss me. I pulled away and told him I'm gay and he didn't really like that too much. He pushed me onto the bed and he forced me to have sex with him. It didn't really affect me at first but now I have flashbacks all the time and nightmares most nights. Emily helped me figure out that sometimes I just need to be close to somebody and let them help me feel safe. Last night was the first night in a really long time that I actually slept and felt safe. Your daughter does that, so if it's okay with you I'd really like to keep sleeping in her room." Jennifer says.

I see a tear roll down my mother's cheek before she hastily wipes it away.

She nods. "I understand. You can sleep in Emily's room but your room will still be there." She says.

We nod.

"I'll buy you a cell phone and I will open a bank account and get you a debit card and you'll have the same allowance as Emily." She says.

Jennifer nods. "What is Emily's allowance?" She asks.

"Fifty dollars a week." My mother says.

"I really don't need fifty dollars a week." Jennifer says.

"You may not need it, but you'll still be getting it." My mother says.

Jennifer nods. "You will have the same curfew as Emily: nine o'clock on school nights, eleven o'clock on weekends, unless you are staying somewhere else or I know exactly where you are. You can have friends over whenever you wish. I will be finding you a home school tutor, if you wish to be home schooled, like principal Jones suggested, or if not, you can go back to school on Monday. It's your choice." She says.

I nod and look up at Jennifer. "What do you want to do?" I ask.

She looks at me. "Home school. I need some time to figure out what's going on with me." She says.

I nod. "I'll stay and with Jennifer." I say.

My mother nods as Marco brings the food out.

"Thanks Marco." I say.

He smiles. "Morning Em." He says.

I smile back.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

We finish our breakfast and walk back up to my room. I walk into my room after Jennifer and close the door. I walk over and sit on the bed. She's looking down at her hands.

"Jennifer what's wrong?" I ask.

She looks up at me and smiles. "Absolutely nothing. Just thinking." She says.

"Whatcha thinkin' bout?" I ask.

"Why you call me Jennifer." She says.

"If you don't want me to I can stop." I say. She shakes her head.

"No, it's just that, everybody else calls me JJ, and I can't figure out why you don't." She says.

"I call you Jennifer because I like your name." I say. She smiles.

"I hate it when people call me Jennifer." She says.

"I can call you JJ if you want." I say.

She smiles. "I like it when _you_ call me Jennifer." She says.

I smile and move closer to her and put an arm around her.

She leans into me.

"I didn't go to a doctor after it happened. I just wanted to forget about it. What if I have some sort of disease? What if I'm pregnant? I haven't had a period since it happened, but I just thought it was the stress, and then mom died and I just, Emily what if something's wrong?" Jennifer asks.

She's starting to panic.

I put my hands on her shoulders. "Okay sweetheart, you have to calm down. If you want to, we can go see my gynecologist, right now okay?" I say.

"Right now? Don't you need an appointment?" She asks.

"She also happens to be my godmother, so no." I say.

"Can we go? I'm sorry, I was just thinking about it and I'm just really scared now." She says.

"Of course. You get dressed, and I'm gonna tell my mother we're going out for a little while." I say.

She nods slowly and moves to get dressed.

I walk downstairs and find my mother still at the table reading what looks like meeting notes. "I'm gonna take Jennifer out for a little while." I say.

"Alright." She says.

"I'm driving." I say.

"Are you sure that's a good idea? It's only been a few weeks." She says. I nod.

"I'll be fine mother." I say.

She nods.

I jog back into the bedroom where Jennifer is just pulling on her shirt.

"Just let me throw on some clothes and we'll go." I say, pulling off the shirt I slept in.

"Do you want me to leave or something?" Jennifer asks.

I shake my head. "You don't have to if you don't want to. Can you grab me a different bra?" I ask as I toss the one I'm wearing into my laundry hamper. I turn to look at Jennifer who is standing, eyes wide, staring at me.

"You're not shy are you?" She asks.

I laugh. "There are a lot of topless beaches in Italy." I say.

She just nods. "Can I have my bra or do you just want to stare at my chest all day?" I ask.

She closes her mouth and blinks a few times. "Uh bra yeah, where are they?" She asks.

"Top drawer. Oh toss me a pair of underwear too?" I say.

She opens the drawer and tosses me the bra and underwear.

I walk over to my closet and grab a pair of black pants and a blue top. "Okay. My boots are at the door. You ready?" I ask.

Jennifer nods and we walk downstairs.

"Do you still have my keys?" I ask my mother.

She holds them up and tosses them to me. "Call me if you need me." She says.

"I will." I say as we walk through the door into the garage.

"Where's your driver?" Jennifer asks.

"I'm driving." I say.

"I didn't know you could drive." She says.

"I got my license when we moved here." I say. Jennifer nods. She looks around the garage for a few seconds before settling on the cars.

"Which car?" She asks.

"The Cruze." I say.

"Wow. It looks like it's never been driven before." She says.

"It hasn't." I say.

"Why?" She asks.

"I just got this one." I say.

"Did you have a different one before?" She asks.

I nod. "Yeah, I was in an accident." I say.

"It was in the papers wasn't it?" She asks.

"Yeah." I say.

"Which car was yours?" She asks.

"The red one in the ditch." I say.

Jennifer is quiet for a moment before she says, "didn't I read something about it rolling a few times before it landed roof down in the ditch?" She asks.

I nod. "That would be the one." I say.

"Is that where you go the scar?" She asks, referring to the scar on my abdomen.

I nod. "Yeah. The other car hit me and there was a big piece of glass from the window that hit me." I say.

Jennifer nods. "Are you sure you want to drive Em?" She asks.

"I have to eventually." I say.

I unlock the car and sit down in the driver's seat.

Jennifer gets in next to me and puts her hand on my arm.

"You okay?" She asks. I nod, and start the car.


	4. Chapter 4

Four

I pull into a parking spot at the clinic where Gina works and put the car in park.

I turn to look at Jennifer. "You ready?" I ask.

"Em what if something is wrong? Or I'm pregnant?" She asks, taking a shaky breath.

"I don't know. I don't think we should worry until we have to though." I say.

She nods. "You're right. Let's go." She says quickly as she gets out of the car.

We walk into the clinic and Gina is waiting for us.

"Thank you for doing this." I say. She smiles.

"It's no problem." She says. She turns to Jennifer. "I'm Gina Cooper." She says, extending her hand.

"I'm JJ. It's nice to meet you Doctor Cooper." Jennifer says, shaking Gina's hand.

"Call me Gina, all of Emmy's friends do." Gina says.

"Emmy?" Jennifer asks, turning to me.

I roll my eyes. "She absolutely refuses to call me anything else." I say.

"And you love me for it." Gina says, laughing.

I smile and Jennifer giggles.

"Come back to my office, so we can talk more." Gina says.

I take Jennifer's hand and walk into the back of the clinic.

"Emily told you why we're here?" Jennifer asks.

Gina nods. "Yes she did." Gina says.

Jennifer just nods. "Can you put this on?" She asks handing Jennifer a gown, which she takes. "Just knock when you're done. We're right across the hall."

Jennifer nods, and Gina and I leave the room.

"Pregnancy test and STD screen? What happened to her Emmy?" Gina asks quietly.

"She was raped on vacation and she didn't tell anybody." I say.

Gina nods. "Is she okay?" Gina asks.

"I honestly don't know. We literally met yesterday. Her mother died and her father kicked her out because she's gay." I say.

Jennifer knocks on the door and we walk back into Gina's office.

I close the door behind me and stand next to Jennifer, who is sitting on the exam table.

"Okay, so what I'm gonna do is pretty simple. I'll take some blood, then I'll need a urine sample, a swab from the inside of your mouth, and a cervical swab." Gina says.

Jennifer sighs and nods. "Okay."

Gina draws three vials of blood and puts them in a specimen bag and labels them. She walks across the room and picks up a container with a long cotton swab in it. "Open your mouth please." She says.

Jennifer does what she's told and Gina swabs her cheek. She puts the swab in another bag and hands Jennifer a cup. "Do you think you can fill that about half way?" Gina asks.

Jennifer nods and slides off the table.

"The bathroom is two doors down on the right." Gina says.

Jennifer nods and walks out of the room.

"Does your mother know?" Gina asks suddenly.

"She knows what happened to Jennifer, but she doesn't know we're here." I say.

"Are you going to tell her?" She asks.

"If there's something to tell, we'll tell her." I say.

"You really care about her." Gina says.

I nod. "Yeah. I do." I say fiercely.

Gina holds up her hands in defense. "Woah, woah, okay. I just meant, it's nice to see you happy like this again." She says quickly.

I sigh. "I'm sorry. I'm just worried about her." I say.

Gina nods. "I can tell." She says.

Jennifer walks back into the room and hands Gina the cup. Gina pulls a pregnancy test out of the drawer in her desk and dips it in the urine cup.

"While we wait for the pregnancy test, I'm gonna swab your cervix. Okay?" Gina asks.

Jennifer nods and gets back up on the table.

"Do you want me to wait outside?" I ask.

"No!" Jennifer exclaims.

"Okay, okay, I'll stay." I say gently.

Jennifer smiles a little bit.

"Okay, JJ, can you lay on your back and put your feet in the stirrups for me?" Gina asks.

Jennifer nods and lies down.

"Okay, I'm going to insert a tube and then swab your cervix. It might be a little uncomfortable, but it shouldn't hurt. Okay?" Gina asks.

Jennifer nods and looks away.

I move so I'm standing in between Jennifer and Gina. "Jennifer, look at me." I say gently.

Slowly she turns to look at me. There are tears in her eyes. I have no idea what to say to her. So I try to distract her. "What's your favorite color?" I ask.

She smiles a little bit. "Blue." She says.

"What's your favorite food?" I ask.

"Strawberries." She says.

I smile. "Favorite animal?" I ask.

"Butterflies." She says.

"And I'm done." Gina says triumphantly.

Jennifer smiles and sits up. "Thank you." She says as she pulls me in for a hug.

I smile and wrap my arms around her tightly.

"I'll have Addison test these right away." Gina says.

"What about the pregnancy test?" Jennifer asks quietly.

Gina pulls on another glove and takes the pregnancy test out of the urine cup. She looks at it, but stays silent.

"Gina?" I ask.

She looks up at me. "It's positive." She says.

I hear Jennifer's sharp intake of breath and her hand tightens around my arm.

"How accurate is that thing?" I ask.

"Nine times out of ten, its right." She says.

"Can't you test her blood or something?" I ask.

"I could, but the results could take as long as three days to come back." Gina says.

"What else can you do?" Jennifer asks.

"I could do an ultrasound." Gina says.

I look at Jennifer, whose face is a mixture of shock and sheer terror. "Do it." I say.

"JJ? What do you want to do?" Gina asks.

"Can you do the ultrasound please?" Jennifer asks.

Gina nods. "Sure sweetie. Do you want to put your pants back on?" Gina asks.

Jennifer nods and slips them on under the gown and takes the gown off so she's only wearing a bra.

"You're gonna have to lay back down." Gina says.

Jennifer nods and lays down again.

Gina pulls a large cart into the room from across the hall and sits down on a stool.

"This might be cold." Gina says.

Jennifer nods and shivers when the gel hits her abdomen.

"Are you ready?" Gina asks.

Jennifer nods.

Gina moves the wand around for a few seconds before she turns to look at us. "You are pregnant. Do you want to see the baby?" She asks.

Jennifer nods and Gina turns the screen.

"Is there a heartbeat?" I ask.

Gina nods and turns on the sound. A steady _thwump_ fills the room and Jennifer smiles.

"It looks like you're about ten weeks." Gina says.

Jennifer nods. "That sounds about right." She says.

"Do you want to talk about what you want to do?" Gina asks.

Jennifer looks up at me. "What do you think?" She asks.

"I think it's your decision, but whatever you want to do, I'll help you, okay?" I say.

"I want to keep it." She says, then looks up at me nervously.

I smile. "I mean it. I'll help you." I say.

Gina turns off the monitor and wipes the gel off Jennifer's stomach. She turns to face Jennifer. "You need to start taking prenatal vitamins, which you can buy at the pharmacy in this building." Gina turns to me.

"And you, need to talk to your mother." She says.

"I know aunt G." I say.

"Good." She says.

We walk out into the lobby and grab our jackets from the coat rack.

"Oh crap, I haven't paid you yet." I say.

"It's fine Emmy." She says.

"No, it's not, last time I had an ultrasound it was like three hundred bucks." I say. I pull out my wallet and give her three hundred dollars. "Just take it. Don't argue." I say.

She nods and takes the money. "Thank you." She says.

I nod. "I have these for you two, and a third copy for Elizabeth." She says handing us each a photo. I look down at the tiny thing and smile. "And I should have the STD screen back by tomorrow." She says.

Jennifer nods. "Thank you." She says.

Gina smiles. "It's no problem. I think Emmy's gonna keep you around for a while. You're family." Gina says.

Jennifer smiles.

"Thank you." I say, hugging Gina.

"I will see you back here in six weeks." Gina says.

I nod. "You will." I say.

Jennifer and I walk out to the parking lot and get in the car.

"Are you okay?" I ask.

She nods.

"Jennifer?" I ask.

She looks at me.

"Are you okay?" I ask again.

Tears fill her eyes and she begins to sob. Not small, I'm just a little upset sobs, but large gut wrenching sobs that make me want to cry along with her. I flip the center console up and climb into the passenger seat and slide in behind her, and wrap my arms around her and just sit there and hold her.

After about twenty five minutes her sobs start to get quieter and quieter until they're just little sniffles. She buries her head in my chest and I rub her back.

"You wanna talk about it?" I ask.

"I'm scared Em." She says quietly.

"I know. How about this. We go home and talk to my mom, and then we spend the day watching Disney movies and snuggling. How does that sound." I ask.

"What if your mom kicks me out? What if she kicks you out for helping me?" Jennifer asks.

"I don't know." I say honestly.

"Let's go." She says.


	5. Chapter 5

Five

I pull into the garage and the door closes behind us. I pull the keys of the ignition and we get out of the car.

We walk into the house and drop our shoes at the door.

My mother comes into the room and immediately recognizes that something is wrong. "Did something happen?" She asks.

"I think we should sit down." I say.

We walk into the living room and sit down on the couch. I move to sit behind Jennifer and wrap my arms around her.

"We went to see Gina." I say.

"Okay." My mother says cautiously. "Why?" She asks.

"I'm pregnant." Jennifer says quickly.

"Are you sure?" My mother asks.

I hand her the ultrasound photo and she looks at it. "Have you decided what you want to do?" She asks.

Jennifer nods. "I want to keep it." She says.

"Okay." My mother says.

"Okay?" I ask.

My mother nods. "What did you think Emily? That I was just going to throw her out on the street?" She asks.

"I didn't know what to think." I say.

"The baby is healthy?" She asks.

Jennifer nods.

"That's good." My mother says.

Jennifer looks away from her.

"You can still stay here Jennifer. I'm not going to kick you out." My mother adds.

Jennifer's head snaps back to her. "You're not?" She asks.

"Of course not Jennifer." My mother says.

Jennifer nods. "Are you okay Jennifer?" My mother asks.

I feel Jennifer start to shake, but she nods yes, and I decide to interrupt before anyone can ask any more questions.

"Do you wanna go upstairs and lay down?" I ask Jennifer.

Again, she nods yes.

I nod. "Okay." I say as I stand up.

My mother stands up as well.

"I take it you're going to help her?" She asks me.

I nod. "Of course I am." I say.

My mother nods. "Good." She says.

Jennifer stands up and I wrap my arms around her waist.

"I'm here to help too Jennifer." My mother says as she pulls Jennifer into a hug.

Jennifer pulls away and nods, and we walk upstairs and into my room.

"Do you want to change into something else?" I ask.

Jennifer nods and sits down on the bed.

I sit down beside her and pull her close to me.

"Talk to me Jennifer." I say.

"I'm scared." She says quietly.

"I know you are." I say. I'm not really sure what else to say. "Are you sure you want to do this Jennifer?" I ask her.

"Do what?" She asks.

"Keep the baby." I say cautiously.

"What else am I gonna do Emily?" She asks.

"There's always adoption... or abortion." I say.

Jennifer's eyes go wide. "I'm not having an abortion! Who would do something like that? That's terrible!" She says loudly.

"I did." I say defensively.

Jennifer's mouth drops. "Oh Em.. I'm sorry, I didn't know." She says quietly.

I smile a little bit. "It's okay. I really didn't really have any other choice." I say.

"What happened?" She asks.

"We were living in Rome, I was trying to convince myself I was straight, so when I was at a party, I got drunk, and I ended up in Bonavento Abadelli's bedroom with John Cooley, one of my friends from the Embassy, and…yeah. About a month later I found out I was pregnant, and knew that I couldn't raise a baby by myself, even though John would have tried to be there, I couldn't do it. It wasn't that I didn't want to do it, I was just too scared, so I had an abortion." I say.

Jennifer nods. "I'm so sorry Emily." Jennifer says.

I nod. "It's fine. I couldn't have raised a baby on my own, and we were about to move here anyway so I was just really stressed out and I did it." I say.

Jennifer nods and sits silently for a minute. "Do you regret it?" She asks.

I shrug my shoulders. "Sometimes. I was about to move away from the place that had become my home, and I didn't really have anyone, so no, but even though I wasn't expecting it, I made a potential person with someone, and that kills me, but when I think about how different my life would be if I hadn't done it, I don't regret it." I say.

Jennifer nods. "Do you think I can raise a baby?" She says.

I smile. "I think you can." I say. She nods.

"I want to. I want this baby, I just don't know if I can do it and still be okay." She says.

I nod. "I know exactly how you feel. But you know what?" I ask.

"What?" She says.

"You don't have to do it alone. I'm here. And my mom is here. And I'm sure my dad will help too, once he's back. And you've still got your friends." I say.

She laughs. "My friends? The ones that I've been lying to since we got back from Florida? The friends who know that I'm gay, but I'm just gonna show up pregnant one day anyway? Yeah Emily, that makes a lot of sense." Jennifer says angrily as she stands up and storms over to the window.

I sigh.

I stand up and walk over to her and wrap my arms around her. I put my hands on her stomach and rest my chin on her shoulder. "I spent fifty minutes with your friends yesterday, and I can already tell that they love you Jennifer. And they will do anything to help you. It's not gonna matter if you're gay and you tell them you're pregnant. They will be there for you." I say.

Jennifer just nods.

"If you want to, they can come over." I say.

Jennifer nods. "They should probably hear it from me before they find out about it from someone else huh?" She says.

I smile. "Only if you want them to." I say.

She nods. "Can I use your phone? I'm gonna text Pen and see if she can wrangle everyone together." She says.

I smile and take my phone off the night stand and hand it to her.

"Are you sure it's gonna be okay with your mother?" She asks. I nod.

"Yeah. I'll just go tell her that they're coming so she doesn't try to have them arrested or something when they show up." I say, with a small laugh so she knows I'm joking.

"Okay." She says.

I walk back downstairs and into the living room where my mother is sitting. I sit down beside her.

She looks up at me. "Is Jennifer okay?" She asks.

I nod. "Yeah, she's just gonna see if a few friends can come over so she can tell them before they find out some other way." I say.

My mother nods. "That sounds like a good idea." She says.

I nod. "When is dad supposed to be back?" I ask.

"Sometime next week, Julian needed him for a few more days. She says.

"Okay. Have you talked to him yet?" I ask.

She shakes her head no. "Not yet, he's supposed to call when he gets out of his meeting." She says.

"Do you think he'll be okay with all of this?" I ask.

"You mean with Jennifer and the baby or with you and Jennifer?" She asks.

"Both." I say.

My mother sighs. "I really don't know Emily. But I know your father loves you, and he wants you to be happy, and in the two days that Jennifer has been here, I've never seen you happier." She says.

I nod. "I don't really know how to explain it." I say.

My mother nods. "I understand. Are you okay with all of this Emily?" She asks.

I nod. "I am. I guess I'm kind of looking at this as a second chance." I say.

"A second chance for what Em?" She asks, and I know I've said too much and I either have to lie really carefully or tell her. I really hate lying, but what good does it do to tell her now?

I feel tears in my eyes as I look up. "I did something stupid when we were in Italy." I say.

I watch a range of emotions cross my mother's face before it finally settles on concern.

She reaches out and takes my hands gently holding them. "What happened Emily?" She asks.

The tears spill over and run down my cheeks. "I got pregnant." I say simply.

"Oh Em, why didn't you tell me? What happened? What did you do about it?" She asks.

"I was scared, I went to a party and me and John… Matthew found out, and we went to talk to Father Gamino, he told me if I had an abortion, I wouldn't be welcome in his church. Matthew took me to a doctor, I had the abortion." I say.

She nods. "I had no idea." She says.

I nod. "That was kind of the point. I was scared that you and dad would have kicked me out or something. I didn't know how you'd react." I say.

She reaches up to wipe the tears off my cheeks. "I love you Emily. You are my daughter, nothing will ever change that." She says as she pulls me into a hug.

I bury my head in her neck and just sit for a few minutes trying to calm down. "I love you too mom."


End file.
